Containers have long been employed to store and transfer perishable food prior to presenting the food at a market where it will be purchased by the consumer. After perishable foods, such as meats, fruits, and vegetables, are harvested, they are placed into containers to preserve those foods for as long as possible. Maximizing the time in which the food remains preserved in the containers increases the profitability of all entities in the chain of distribution by minimizing the amount of spoilage.
The environment around which the food is preserved is a critical factor in the preservation process. Not only is maintaining an adequate temperature important, but the molecular and chemical content of the gases surrounding the food is significant as well. By providing an appropriate gas content to the environment surrounding the food, the food can be better preserved when maintained at the proper temperature or even when it is exposed to variations in temperature. This gives the food producer some assurance that after the food leaves his or her control, the food will be in an acceptable condition when it reaches the consumer.
Modified atmosphere packaging systems for one type of food, raw meats, expose these raw meats to either extremely high levels or extremely low levels of oxygen (O.sub.2). Packaging systems which provide extremely low levels of oxygen are generally preferable because it is well known that the fresh quality of meat can be preserved longer under anaerobic conditions than under aerobic conditions. Maintaining low levels of oxygen minimizes the growth and multiplication of aerobic bacteria.
One example of a low-level oxygen system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,698,250 to DelDuca et al. In the DelDuca system, an oxygen reduction technique such as gas flushing is used to initially remove most of the oxygen from a modified atmosphere package containing raw meat. Just prior to sealing the oxygen depleted package, an oxygen scavenger is placed in the package to absorb any residual oxygen therein. The oxygen scavenger continues to absorb any oxygen in the package after it has been sealed. A significant advantage of the DelDuca system is that it can operate at exceptionally fast speeds relative to prior art systems that rely solely upon evacuation techniques to diminish oxygen levels. However, in order to maintain such a relatively high throughput, it is important that each portion of the DelDuca system operate quickly and efficiently.
To that end, the present invention provides a system and method for quickly and efficiently inserting an oxygen scavenger into a modified atmosphere package.